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Cough Syrup A student at a local polytechnic is being sought by the police for questioning regarding a counterfeit cough preparation seized from backyard manufacturing facilities in a residential area. Cough Syrup

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The perfect crime?  Organised crime  Huge profits to be made –global earnings $ 35 B p.a.  Penalties in most countries make these crimes worthwhile - Huge rewards for little risk  Counterfeit medicines are manufactured in one country, packaging is printed in another, product is packed in a third  Almost impossible to distinguish between real and fake medicines - can imitate genuine medicines almost perfectly Victims often are not aware of the fact that they have not received the “real” medicine

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The Effect of Counterfeits  Erosion of public confidence in - public health care systems, - health care professionals - the pharmaceutical industry - regulatory and law enforcement authorities  Loss of almost 20 % of total medicines market in SA to crime  Impacts on the price of medicines for the legitimate buyers  WHO estimates - 10 % of pharmaceuticals worldwide are counterfeits and - 25 % of medicines in developing countries are fake or substandard

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Significant Combined Effort to combat illegal and counterfeit Medicines in SA  Government Agencies Revising legislation Inter-departmental and cross-country working groups Impose severe sanctions on members found guilty of manufacturing, distributing supplying or selling stolen or counterfeit medicines  Need for Increased Education being addressed by all Players Of health care professionals and the public To assist in spotting illegal, stolen, substandard or counterfeit medicines To be on alert for treatment failure  All Pharma Industry Players Introduce special markings and tracking systems Ensure an effective easy reporting system for patients & professionals to report lack of efficacy or unexpected adverse events to maintain an audit trail of medicines bought